The Disney Princess Half Marathon. I had quite literally been planning on this race since I hatched my 50 state plan. I tried to sign up for it in 2018 but it was sold out. So as soon as 2019 registration opened up, I signed up, quite literally pulling over in the middle of driving home one day so that I wouldn’t miss out on the chance to get in. It cost a stupid amount of money but man was I excited.

Fast forward 6 months and it’s the day before I leave for Florida. I’m running a 2 mile training run with Run The Streets. I’m turned around, chatting with a kid and next thing I know, I’m on the ground. My left ankle and right knee both hurt. Bad. However I assumed it was just fleeting pain and got up and tried to walk it off a bit. However it didn’t get better. I got myself home and realized my left ankle was swelling and my right knee was torn up. (Life lesson- keep your eyes facing forward while running).

I treated it, hoped for the best, and went to bed.

I woke up the next morning at 3:30am for my flight to Florida. My knee was bruised, bleeding and sore but not too bad, however my ankle had swollen up and bruised overnight. It could have won first place in a cankle contest. I taped it up and got on a plane.

I love the weather in Florida. It’s hot. And warm. And hot. My favorite type of weather. The expo was a lot of fun, well organized with lots of booths. I picked up my stuff for the races. I was signed up for the Fairy Tale Challenge, which is a 10k on Saturday followed by a Half Marathon on Sunday. Why? 3 medals. And of course this seemed like a good idea 6 months ago, although I currently couldn’t walk without limping, much less run.

On Saturday morning I got up at 3:30am to head to the start of the 10k. I decided not to even try and run. Luckily my qualifying times had put me in the first corral so even walking I knew I should be able to meet the time limit. My big fear was not meeting the cut off and being kicked out of the race (and not getting that medal). I ended up finishing the 10k in almost 2 hours, when just a week prior I had run a 10k race in half the time. Humbling.

The scenery was beautiful though. I loved the fireworks at the beginning and getting to run through Epcot.

On Sunday morning I got up at 3am to get to the half marathon. Apparently it was an even bigger race so we had to get there earlier. My ankle was still rocking cankle status so once again I decided to just walk (decided is generous, my body forced me). I was worried about the time cutoff again but with all of the waves of participants it ended up being a non issue. I tried to enjoy the race and just observe humanity. During the first mile I saw a couple of guys pull off the course for a trip to the woods.  And then I saw a woman do that. And she pulled out a tube. That was a first. Mad props to her for the problem solving and forward thinking. She must have a severe dislike for port-o-potties.

I also saw some awesome shirts.

• “You’ve just been fast passed.”
• “She’s living her best life, I’m just lazy”.
• ” Why are all of these Princesses chasing me?”
• “After this I’m getting coffee…and maybe some donuts…or a waffle.”
• “Princess Protection Dept.”
• “Dead Last Finish is greater than Did Not Finish which greatly triumphs Did Not Start.” (my personal favorite)

It was definitely one of the most visually stimulating races that I have ever been to. There were amazing costumes, great views of Epcot and Magic Kingdom, and constant fireworks.

This cop was “checking” our speed by radar at mile 11. I thought that was a fun touch.

I got to take this photo with Belle and Gaston. Gaston was hitting on Belle and Belle was ignoring him.

However, it was also one of the hardest races I’ve ever done. I was in a lot of physical pain. My ankle was very swollen and the skin was irritated from the tape and wrappings. The scabs on my knee broke open and blood was trickling down my right leg. Also emotionally it was really rough. I would like to say that I was happy just to be there but that wouldn’t be honest. I never mind running alone but walking alone for over 6 hours (between the two races) really messed with me. I felt lonely and sorry for myself at times and it was hard not to focus on the pain. It was also a reminder to not take things for granted, especially your health. Just days earlier I had been running and now that gift was gone. It took me 4 hours and 19 minutes to complete the half marathon. By comparison I ran my last full marathon in 4 hours and 11 minutes.

After the race I got wrapped again (Disney has great medical support) to try and alleviate some swelling.

The medals were pretty sweet!

Overall I have mixed feelings about Florida. It wasn’t quite the magical experience that I had been hoping for but I also respect the lessons it taught me. It reminded me of resilience and that even though I have failures, doubts, and setbacks, that I can continue on in spite of them.

“One foot in front of the other. Repeat as often as necessary to finish.” -Haruki Murakami